Driving through the Old Town historic district in Selma, you may not notice Selma’s oldest school sitting there, but you cannot miss the well-aged and majestic live oak sitting out in front.

The “Byrd Learning Tree,” as it is called has been designated as an Alabama Famous Historical Tree by the Alabama Forestry Commission and is an iconic figure in front of one of Selma’s eminent schools, Byrd Elementary.

“It really is something,” Byrd Elementary School principal Beth Taylor said. “The kids have drawn it, made models of it, done just about anything art wise you can do of it.”

The large live oak sits just to the left of the entrance of Byrd and well out dates the 91-year old school.

Byrd, which opened its doors in 1919 and is located on Lapsley Street, sits on nearly the exact spot where former Judge William Byrd’s home site. And, according to a historic placard, the tree once provided shade to that home, as it does now to the school.

“We take a lot of pride of not looking like the average school,” Taylor said. “We want to make sure we continue to fit into the historic, Old Town neighborhood.”

As for the tree, you won’t find any children swinging off of it or seeing who can climb the highest.

“No, we keep everyone off it,” Taylor said. “And the Forestry Commission has asked we continue to keep everyone off the root system, so everyone here knows to use the sidewalks around it.”

But the sense of pride Taylor talked about looking apart from other schools has also found its way into the children who go to school each day.

“I was walking through the halls one day and walked up on a fifth grader and I asked them how they were doing,” Taylor recalled. “He looked up and me and said, ‘Blessed to be at Byrd.’

“Now that is something that makes you feel good,” she said.